Fated as the Caged Wolf's Free
by e la mucca salto sulla luna
Summary: Varania's life changes in unthinkable ways when her brother Fenris wins the competition for the lyrium markings and sets her and their mother free only to face countless unseen hardships. -Rated M for later chapters/possibilities just in case.
1. Freedom

Silent green eyes surveyed the grounds of the manor, tense with anticipation. Relief coursed through her petite form as she spotted his silvery white hair and the hilt of his greatsword amongst the always bustling people hurrying to and from the estate. His and the master's backs were turned towards her.

The elf rushed forward, a cry on her lips, "Leto!"

If he heard her, Leto didn't turn. Their master heard and angled his gaze in her direction abruptly halting her. A tight, conceited half smile played across his lips. His grey eyes glinted tauntingly with a cold mirth.

A feeling of dread seemed to choke the breath from her lungs. Leto… It had to do with him, something terrible. She wasn't sure how she knew but the feeling sat in her stomach like a burning coal. Suddenly she had the urge to run to him, to see his face. She needed to see his face.

A warning cut through her reeling thoughts. She needed to learn to control her emotions better. The moment she had seen Leto she had abandoned what she had been taught since birth; someone of her status was never to approach the Magister without being called for. Under most circumstances death was the penalty. She had run towards Leto until the Magister's eyes turned on her, it was almost lucky that she had frozen under his gaze. But in that instant, Danarius' eyes burned more than any knife in the back. So Varania held back the urge now, quivering slightly as she stood frozen in place, for if she moved she wasn't sure if she could stop herself from flying forwards.

Her thoughts were reeling over the possibilities. Glancing down at the two pieces of parchment in her hand, Varania tightened her grip. Never before had she been presented with a full sheet of paper, slaves did not get handed a luxury such as this, only torn scraps on the rare occasions paper was needed. Since Varania couldn't read she hadn't ever had any use of paper anyways. Even so, Varania had known what these papers meant when a steward handed them to her. These were documents with their freedom scrawled across them.

Was Danarius going snatch them away and deny them their freedom? The given word of a magister was an empty promise, never to be trusted. Or on a darker note; perhaps Leto had changed his request…

The very idea was an act of unfaithfulness but sent fear coursing through her. Varania quickly banished the thought; he brother would never betray them…

She reassured herself, but a looming thought threatened to shatter her false sense of security; Leto would never betray them willingly.

Even after Danarius and Leto were out of sight, lost to the crowd again, Varania remained unmoving in the middle of the pathway. Other passing slaves and higher up citizens alike shot her demeaning looks but Varania paid them no mind. Not working was a quick way for a slave to be punished with a beating or no meals, but a lowly slave standing in the middle of a path as if she had some right to walk upon it would receive much a much steeper punishment. Varania scolded herself silently for being so doubting of her brother's word. Yet her breath still caught in her throat as Hadriana approached.

The Magister's apprentice looked her over with distain and a flicker of amusement making Varania's jaw clench together tighter.

"My my, already acting like you think you're free. It is rather grand, isn't it? The path does offer such a splendid view of the grounds." Her lips curved into a wicked smile, clearly taking pleasure in humiliating her, refusing to let her slip away without reminding her of her stature once more. Varania ignored the bait and kept her eyes averted to the ground.

It was unwise to make an enemy of Hadriana, her cruelty was widely known amongst all the slaves on the estate; enjoying depriving her favorites of food and sleep. Those who misbehaved or rebelled quickly learned to fear and hate her name and any thoughts of being out of line was stripped away.

"The Magister finds these affairs…distasteful. So I will speak in his place." The woman spoke with an air of self-importance wearing it proudly like the glinting jeweled necklace around her neck. Her gaze jumped to Danarius who stood a little further away than he had been earlier. Leto stood a little ways behind him, his back still to her. While the Magister was conversing with another man it seemed to her that he was aware of his apprentice and herself and their proceedings.

"Leto has requested that his family is to be set free as his boon for winning the honor of bearing the markings of lyrium. The Magister will except this under the conditions that you leave immediately and that should you return, you will receive no aid and will not be welcomed on the Magister's estate." Varania noted she reserved her courteous tongue for only speaking about her master or when she did Danarious' bidding.

"My brother will be set free as well would he not, seeing as he is a part of our family?" Varania asked through gritted teeth, unable to keep the dislike of this woman out of her voice; but she already knew the answer. She was not a fool to think Danarius would allow the lyrium warrior, the true prize of the competition, to ever be free.

Hadriana's blue eyes narrowed into an icy gaze. "Watch your tone; it doesn't take much to destroy your already precarious position. You are not free until Danarius has signed your release." There was a dangerous tremor in her frigid voice. "He knew the sacrifices to set his family free and he agreed to be bound by them." She said this with a sickening tone of satisfaction.

The Magister would have known Leto would choose their freedom over his own…and she hated him for it.

"You will not speak to the Magister and waste his time when you present these papers to him; as soon as they are signed you will leave."

As Hadriana walked past her, she leaned in, her breath hot on Varainia's neck, "The world will break you soon enough. When the veils of your ignorance have been torn to pieces, you'll come crawling back begging for our help." She whispered in her ear.

* * *

A shiver travel through Varania as she watched the Magister's apprentice stalk away. Shaking off the Hadriana's last words, she sought out Danarius, who she had lost in the crowds during her encounter with his apprentice.

When she spotted his intimidating figure, every footfall seemed to weigh a ton, trying to drag her back, as she walked towards the Magister. The sense of dread seemed to close more solidly around her, but it would give her a chance to see her brother and perhaps speak to him, so she kept walking.

Neither stirred from their positions as she neared, Danarius was speaking with several other people now, several other magisters by the looks of them. Varania swallowed, her throat dry.

"ah yes, a…remarkable process indeed…" Varania tilted her heard but the Magister did not elaborate any further on whatever they had been discussing.

When she got within twenty paces, Leto suddenly whipped around, his hand on the hilt of the greatsword, as if she had passed an invisible boundary and was too close.

His piercing green eyes met her own. She had thought seeing his face, and looking into his eyes would erase her fears but instead horror bubbled up inside her. There was no recognition. Nor was there any trace of that cocky gleam that lingered or hardened persistence in his eyes.

The moment their gazes met she knew everything that had made him Leto, was gone. Stubbornly she clung to a desperate hope. Varania could taste the dryness on her tongue.

"Leto?" She tried to ask but it was more of a strangled gasp that parted her lips. The elf did not reply, once he seemed to have concluded she was not a threat to Danarius he released his grip on his sword and turned back to the Magister.

A hollow feeling rose inside her as if her heart had been ripped from her breast. Her mother and Leto were everything she had and now her brother had been torn away from her.

Varania could feel her voice rising in anger before she could suppress it.

"What have you done to him?"

Danarius' hand moved faster than she could see, striking her hard across the cheek. The blow stung long after he lashed out and it would probably leave a mark later.

The Magister narrowed his eyes.

"You are still a slave of my property, remember you place! The papers in your hand that you clutch as if they were a lifeline are worthless until they bear my signature. Give them here before I change my mind." He snapped.

Varania remained mute, she didn't dare address him by question again for fear that he would go back on his word. Holding her breath, she watched as Danarius wrote his name in fluid symbols across the bottom of each sheet.

"Now you and I have no further business, you had better get out before Hadriana finds you." He turned away. "Come along Fenris, my little wolf."


	2. Bitter Words

"Free…" Varania breathed the forbidden word letting it roll off her tongue.

Slaves did not dare hope for freedom; it was a lingering thought at the back of the mind, resurfacing every once in a while before being quickly beaten into submission again until there was no trace of the thought; so as to avoid a harsher beating from their master.

That was the beauty of the system.

But they were free; there was no fear to cage her in. A vastness seemed to stretch out before her that had been previously limited by invisible chains of the mindset of slavery. She breathed in the feeling but felt it slip through her fingers as fine grained sand.

The excitement faded to a dull ache.

Leto… Her brother had bought their freedom at the cost of his own and his life.

Varania had never expected to see Leto again after he swore to the agreement of the competition. She had begged him not to do this; not to leave her but he had only reassured her with an almost nonexistent smile, a small quirk of his lips; a smile only for her that Varania understood. She had seen the sparkle of determination in his eyes as he promised them freedom.

She hadn't understood. Why would he waste his life in a hopeless fight to the death for something so far out of his reach?

Varania was left waiting in the dark. Leto had natural talent with the greatsword he carried, which was how he had earned a place in the guard, but it was not enough. The weeks to come felt like she was holding her breath constantly. Her thoughts were plagued by the image of Leto lying motionless, blood spilling from a wound. It set her heart fluttering in her chest not knowing.

The other slaves gave Varania and her mother a wide berth, and several younger girls took over her mother's tasks in the mansion several times. Varania was gratified for their thoughtfulness, especially towards her mother. She relied on the others to relay news to her when the carts passed carrying those who had fallen in the competition, for she didn't have the strength to see if her brother lay among them.

The papers she had received this morning had been proof of his survival and a thrill of joy had washed over her. It had meant she would see him again against her wildest dreams. Yet the world was cruel to play such a trick on her; to allow Varania to lay eyes on him but to see him stand adoringly at Danarius' side, no resentfulness, no resistance, Leto's identity stripped away… it was a spiteful joke indeed.

His appearance had been altered too. Thin, luminescent tattoos flowed silver across his skin, no, as part of his skin, in fluid graceful patterns. The fine markings started from his lower lip following the lines of his neck and collarbone. His arms also bore the strange yet beautiful lyrium tattoos and Varania suspected that beneath the armor he wore, they traveled the length of his body. She could just see where the markings ended, wrapping around his ankles where he wore no shoes.

Varania almost allowed herself to find his new appearance striking, but then she remembered.

The image burned in her mind. He was the lyrium warrior. He was Fenris.

He was not her brother.

* * *

Edeina was a strong willed woman and caring as she was stern to her children. It was dangerous to raise children into the world of slavery.

She had long dark hair pulled in a tight bun; high, soft cheek bones and deep grey eyes. Her appearance resembled little of her children's though they had the same facial structure. At one time it was plain to see she would have been a beautiful woman when the toll of years of slavery was yet to weigh upon her body and her age was not past her childbearing years.

Varania's mother met her with a weathered smile, but a smile all the same. Varania couldn't smile back. Instead she ran to her and let her mother's body fold around her, holding her. A tear trickled down her cheek wetting her lashes as more spilled freely now from her eyes.

Neither spoke for a time; she had no words to say. So they stood in a frozen embrace until her mother stirred. Her grey eyes dropped to Varania's hands, she held them turning her palms up.

"A girl your age should never have to bear the worn, beaten hands of a slave," her tone was soft, but tired. Varania kept her tongue stilled. They stayed like that until the grey light shown through the eastern windows.

"Now tell me what happened." She whispered when Varania's tears were dry leaving salty trails across her cheeks.

Varania drew the folded sheets of their freedom from within a pocket of her apron, watching the relief of a thousand worries spread across her mother's face. Her eyes smiled with too many emotions to speak as they glinted proudly. It killed Varania that the words she must tell her mother next would break her heart; they felt like lead on her tongue. She didn't hear her voice as she spoke.

And then it weighed on both of them that Leto was not going with them.

"Danarius will never allow Leto to go free and he made sure of that…" Varania's voice was barely auditable. "He's done something to sweep his memories. He didn't recognize me when I spoke to him…nothing, even his name..."

Varania could feel the anguish and sorrow that swept through her mother. Edeina pulled her close.

"I knew it in my heart when he left, but I didn't stop him…" she said softly. "He made his choice," Her voice faded into her grief. She closed her eyes.

Listening to the flow of words her mother spoke, Varania snapped out of her stupor. Gently she pulled away.

"We have to leave now, and be long gone from Danarius' estate for he will not provide or tolerate former slaves. We have no coin and must find shelter before nightfall." She found strength in the task at hand to keep her voice from shaking. Whether her mother heard she wasn't certain.

It was acknowledged by the rest of Danarius' slaves that they were free for none met their eyes or addressed them. It left a cold feeling in Varania's stomach as the people she had shared burdens with or talked quietly to at meals; severed the connections they once had shared.


	3. Plight of Elves

The guards eyed them with disinterest as they escorted the two through the main gates of the wall surrounding the estate. The sound of stone grating against stone made Varania wince. The intricately carved doors were sealed shut with a tone of finality.

They owned nothing. To own something was to have control over something and slaves were not permitted to have any sense of control because control led to rebellion. They had no coin, no food, nothing save the clothing on their backs.

Varania and her mother walked the streets until they reached the outer part of the city Minrathous. Remembering the twists and turns they made through this maze of streets was impossible. They attracted the attention of many receiving looks of disapproval, hostility and other looks she didn't care to think the meaning behind them. Edeina guided them away from main streets from then on.

There would be no inn that would accept two elves at no pay, this Varania knew. With the sky turning, they settled for an abandoned barn.

The space was musty and dark like the evening sky; Varania would have to see if she could find a candle somewhere. In the shadows she could make out old hay bales probably long since dried out. Several patches of the sky could be seen through holes in the roof creating faintly lit spots on the floor, clouds were rolling in though and when night fell they would be plunged into the dark. At least it would keep them out of the cold and wet.

Using the hay to lessen the seeping cold of the ground, they sat and Varania was content to listen to her mother speak idly, taking comfort in her gentle voice. The young elf willed the troublesome thoughts she would have to worry about later away.

When her mother's tone turned more serious, Varania pulled back from leaning against her just slightly to indicate she was listening.

"There was once a time when Elves walked upon the land as the dominant race. Unlike humans we did not die from our bodies reaching a limit of age, only did we fall to disease or in battle. But war was rare, the culture of our race was not centered around the greed of battle. We did not go without those who were skilled in the art of combat though. There were many great warriors amongst our people but they fought the realms threatening the balance we preserved within our lands. Our culture was rich music and art and many other pleasures. Some say it was the peak of the Elven race." She spoke with a passion Varania didn't hear often.

"Then for the first time we began to open our knowledge that we guarded fiercely to a race that seemed nothing but a child to us. With our guidance their society grew and in return they share their fast developing knowledge of science and weaponry. And for many years our races coexisted and flourished."

"Then for the first time we began to be limited by a number of years we had never felt before. Slowly our immortality washed away leaving us as vulnerable to age as who had lived hundreds of year began to fade and we feared are culture would with them. We withdrew back to our homeland, Elvhenan."

"And it was at this the humans laid siege on our civilization. But we were an ancient people, the foundation of our race as deep as the roots of the Great Trees of the Elder Woods that have stood since our race was born. As this was to our advantage, it was our downfall. For thousands of years we were a culture of art and beauty. Our people were unprepared for a war and did not have the experience to face a powerful siege. Six years, it would have been like the blink of an eye to those who had lived for thousands in the Elder Years. It took them six years of raging battles to uproot all of our civilization that we had created and developed over hundreds of millennia." There was no anger in her voice, only sadness as she told the story.

"Those were dark times; so many lives were lost and the knowledge they destroyed they will never know fully. It was when we truly learned to fear magic. Never before had we seen magic so warped and twisted to do evil things. We knew of it, but never used it; those of our race who discovered darker ways quickly banished its use. It was with blood magic that humans permanently ended the war of a people that were already broken. And Elvhenan slipped below the sea and lost to the world."

"For generations we have been cast into slavery and so it is today." She said gravely.

Varania had heard this story only once, a long time ago with Leto, and she knew she was lucky to hear it again. The history of the Elven people and their land, Elvhenan was forbidden in the Tevinter Imperium. Had anyone heard her mother tell that story she would not live to see another sunrise.

"Our people have never forgotten, nor should they."

* * *

When Varania woke she felt the cold. She laid there disoriented for a moment before she remembered she was far away from Danarius, she hadn't realized she'd fallen asleep. It was early; her body was used to getting up before dawn. Rising, the shadows still clung to everything as she stepped outside.

The sky was in the east was tinged orange. She played with the idea of simply leaving and not waiting for her mother to wake, it would be good to get an early start, but decided against it. Varania silenty crept back inside and settled down, leaning against the stack of hay.

She was at a loss at what to do. She groveled at the idea that because she had always followed orders given to do her her master's bidding she didn't know how to do anything of her own mind. She didn't know how to be free. Closing her eyes, she allowed herself to rest; the first time since… she couldn't really remember the last time she had let herself rest because she wanted to.

She made a list in her mind of what needed to be accomplished. As she went over it again, Varania started as her mother spoke, she hadn't noticed she was awake.

"Come here, love. You look as if you have half the world on your mind." Varania repositioned herself next to her mother. Edeina's hand closed over hers. "You're cold." She murmured to her daughter.

Vanrania didn't feel cold, her panic from her previous thoughts and worry over how they would finds the things they needed to survive block it out. "I will go into town today… we must find a way to earn money for food. And blankets and a candle. Then we must-" Varania's words rushed out. Their needs seemed so little but were so many at the same.

"Child… Varania, that is what you are; you are but a child… do not think such things lie solely upon your shoulders alone."

Her composure shattered. Sorrow Varania didn't know she broke inside her. Her hand flew to her mouth to suppress the sobs welling up in her burning throat. Tears spilled down her cheeks ashamedly.

"There is nothing to grasp. We have nothing and everything." She choked. "I miss him. I don't understand." Varania whispered, laying her head against Edeina's collarbone. She felt her mother's arms wrap around her.

"The last gift your father gave me was Leto, and then you. I was angry with him for bringing innocent children into a harsh world bound in slavery, I had sworn against bearing a child because I knew the pain that would come from it. I feared everyday you would be taken from me. But I also saw the beauty in having children… I would've given anything for you two to live in a different world; it should not have been him."

"Do not believe there is only cruelness in the world, there is kindness too or there would be no cruelness to set it apart." Edeina spoke.

From a deep pocket, she drew a tiny cloth pouch, "A gift and a small rebellion against Danarius." she said placing it in Varania's palm. Slowly she drew on the strings to reveal a small handful of coins that had probably been collected by many hands over the course of many years on the grounds of the estate. Most were dull with dirt from where they had been found, though several glimmered silver and gold.

She found a smile had worked its way onto her lips as she held a polished coin between her fingers picturing those brave enough and daring enough to steal from the magisters.

* * *

_Here's a longer chapter to make up for the shorter one. Thanks for reading everyone! What do you think so far Melody for my first Dragon Age fanfic? ;P  
_


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